1. Related Application
This specification is a revision of the patent application specification Ser. No. 07/488,124, filed Mar. 5, 1990 now abandoned.
2. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the reduction of hazardous waste and medical waste to a disposable residue and in particular the elimination of lighter-than-air particles from entering the atmosphere.
3. Prior Art
At the present time we have 1,447 known hazardous waste dumpsites, of which 703 are on the government's priorities list for clean-up. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects that this figure will grow to about 2,500 dumpsites before too long.
Hazardous waste contains many dioxin residues which are highly toxic chemical contaminants. Storage of this type of waste creates many physical problems for inhabitants living in close proximity to the storage site.
Sooner or later all waste dumpsites will leak and consequently it is a foregone conclusion that we must not perpetuate landfill dumpsite storage systems.
A small percentage of hazardous waste and medical waste is being incinerated without adequate safeguards in preventing particles from being emitted into the atmosphere, thus augmenting the acid rain content of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emitted primarily from fossil fuel plants.
Occasionally beaches on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have been closed because of offshore dumpings of medical waste.